A LUMP on the breast, blood in the stool and sudden unexplainable weight loss.
We think we know the symptoms of most cancers – except we don’t.
Getty ImagesExperts are encouraging people to be more aware of less-known symptoms[/caption]
This is especially the case for the deadliest versions of the disease, for which symptom awareness is as low as one per cent in the UK.
Anna Jewell, of the Less Survivable Cancers Taskforce (LSCT), said this was “deeply concerning”.
“It’s one of the many challenges that we’re facing in the fight against these deadly diseases,” she said.
Lung, pancreatic, liver, brain, oesophageal and stomach are the most deadly cancers, responsible for almost half of all cancer deaths in the UK.
According to UK wide survey just two and three per cent of Brits knew all the signs of oesophogeal and stomach cancers respectively.
While only one per cent of people were able to list the symptoms of liver cancer.
The research carried out by the LSCT also found that only seven per cent of Brits knew all the symptoms of pancreatic cancer.
And only nine per cent of people could spot the signs of lung cancer, while knowledge of brain tumour symptoms was higher with around 20 per cent of Brits able to name the symptoms.
Experts are encouraging people to be more aware of less- known symptoms that could signal early disease and report them to their GPs.
Dr Marnix Jansen, cancer specialist at UCL said: “Public awareness of the common signs is crucial if we’re going to tackle the problem of late diagnosis.”
Anna is also calling on all UK government to “commit to increasing survival rates for less survivable cancers to 28 per cent by 2029.”
Previously, the LSCT reported that many patients with a less survivable cancer will only be diagnosed after an emergency admission to hospital after symptoms have become severe.
Some 31 per cent of Brits said had put off seeking medical advice when experiencing symptoms which were later shown to be caused by a less survivable cancer, the research found.
These late diagnoses account for, in part, the catastrophic prognoses for thousands of people each year, the LSCT said,
Do you know the symptoms?
Test your knowledge of the symptoms of the six most deadly cancers.
Lung cancer
lingering cough, feeling tired losing your appetite
Pancreatic cancer
persistent stomach achebackacheindigestionunexplained weight lossbowel habit changes
Liver cancer
weakness and tirednesspain in the abdomenswelling of the abdomen due to a build-up of fluid (ascites) pain in the right shoulderappetite loss and feeling sick weight lossyellowing of the skin and eyes (jaundice)pale bowel motionsfever
Brain cancer
headachesvomiting seizures weaknessvision or speech problems behaviour changes
Oesophageal cancer
weight loss difficulty swallowingpain behind the breastbonea hoarse coughindigestion and heartburna lump under the skin
Stomach cancer
heartburnfeeling full after small portions of foodstomach painnauseaindigestionunintentional weight lossfeeling bloated after eatingtrouble swallowing
Source: Cancer Research and the Mayo Clinc